A Modern Take on Modern War.

2009.12.21

What Do I Know?

I often talk with a friend about how much we know. And in the same discussions, we talk about how little we know. It is a strange phenomenon. To be learning so much, all the time, and still feel very uninformed.

There are very few topics on which I feel like I know enough to hold a decent conversation. That’s not to put myself down I’m capable enough, but I feel now, the more I find that I don’t know, the less confident I am in some ways.

The adage goes “Ignorance is bliss.” Although it’s only partly true, it’s true nonetheless. Not knowing about something makes it easier to exist, in some instances. Another saying goes: “The more you know, the more you know.” While this one is also true, I think a better rendering of it would be: “The more you know, the more you realise how little you know.” Maybe not as catchy, but truer, I think.

It’s certainly true for me. My current term paper is on the European Union. Specifically, the question is: “Will the EU ever be a military superpower?”

I picked the question because I knew that I had no idea about this field. It’s only now that I’ve started researching it that I realise how little I really know, and how much there is to know about it. I’m getting there now, but it’s taking me a long time. Whenever I feel like I’m getting somewhere, I come across something that I feel like I should understand more fully.

A similar situation arose when I picked a question on the problem of narcotics in Afghanistan. I knew nothing about the topic, so I researched as thoroughly as I could, and it turned out, more thoroughly than I needed to. I developed a strong understanding of the topic. I am confident now, when I talk about it.

My problem, I think, is that I desire too much detail in what I am understanding, so when I find a new concept in a book, I need to understand it too fully before I can more on. Maybe this is out of fear of missing something crucial that might change my argument.

I think that I need to develop some kind of confidence to triage and know that I will never know, or read everything on a topic. It won’t stop me wanting to know.